Radial chamber positive displacement, fluid power device

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device including a housing means, a piston means of somewhat smaller cross-sectional configuration positioned within the housing means, and vane means between the housing means and the piston means and sealingly cooperable therewith for defining two or more angularly adjacent inner chamber spaces of a complete chamber defined within the housing means. The housing means and the piston means are both supported by a pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means having two eccentrically related spaced substantially parallel axes referred to herein as a housing axis and a piston axis and coaxial, respectively, with a corresponding actual axis of said housing means (usually substantially centrally disposed of said housing means although not specifically so limited in all cases) and a corresponding actual axis of said piston means (usually substantially centrally disposed of said piston means, although not specifically so limited in all cases). Said supporting means may also be said to have an axis of operation substantially parallel to said housing axis and said piston axis and positioned in a plane terminating at one end and being coincident with said housing axis and terminating at the other end and being coincident with said piston axis, thus making it possible for said axis of operation in certain forms of the invention to be coincident with said housing axis, in other forms of the invention to be coincident with said piston axis, and in further forms of said invention to lie between said housing and piston axes. The relatively rotatable support of said housing means and said piston means by said supporting means is such as to provide for substantially simultaneous relative rotation thereof around said axis of operation of said supporting means and for simultaneous relative rotation of at least one of said housing and piston axes around said axis of operation and relative to said housing means and said piston means in an opposite direction in a manner such as to effect cyclic contraction and expansion of the chamber spaces without any substantial relative angular movement between said piston means and said housing means occurring.

United States Patent [72] Inventor John ,I. Klover La Puente, Calif. [2]] Appl. No. 805,936 [22] Filed Feb. 13, 1969 [4S] Patented June 22, 1971 [73] Assignee General Management Company North Hollywood, Calif. a part Interest Continuation-impart of application Scr. No. 553,227, May 26, I966.

[54] RADIAL CHAMBER POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT,

FLUID POWER DEVICE 29 Claims, 55 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. 12318.45, 418/91 [51] Int." F02b 53/04, F02b 55/08, F01c 19/02 [50] FieldolSeareh 91/67; 230/140; 123/8, 16

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,016,764 2/1912 Noyes 123/16 2,089,593 8/1937 Bailey... 230/140 2,174,664 10/1939 Korany 123/16 Primary Examiner-Mark M. Newman ABSTRACT: The specification discloses a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device including a housing means, a piston means of somewhat smaller cross-sectional configuration positioned within the housing means, and vane means between the housing means and the piston means and sealingly cooperable therewith for defining two or more angularly adjacent inner chamber spaces of a complete chamber defined within the housing means. The housing means and the piston means are both supported by a pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means having two eccentrically related spaced substantially parallel axes referred to herein as ahousing axis and a piston axis and coaxial, respectively, with a corresponding actual axis of said housing means (usually substantially centrally disposed of said housing means although not specifically so limited in all cases) and a corresponding actual axis of said piston means (usually substantially centrally disposed of said piston means, although not specifically so limited in all cases). Said supporting means may also be said to have an axis of operation substantially parallel to said housing axis and said piston axis and positioned in a plane terminating at one end and being coincident with said housing axis and terminating at the other end and being coincident with said piston axis, thus making it possible for said axis of operation in certain forms of the invention to be coincident with said housing axis, in other forms of the invention to be coincident with said piston axis, and in further forms of said invention to lie between said housing and piston axes. .The relatively rotatable support of said housing means and said piston means by said supporting means is such as to provide for substantially simultaneous relative rotation thereof around said axis of operation of said supporting means and for simultaneous relative rotation of at least one of said housing and piston axes around said axis of operation and relative to said housing means and said piston means in an opposite direction in a manner such as to effect cyclic contraction and expansion of the chamber spaces without any substantial relative angular movement between said piston means and said housing means occurring.

PATENTED JUN22 19m SHEET 2 [IF 8 wvmroe. JOHN A. KLOVER.

PATENTEU JUH22 19m SHEET 3 OF 8 PATENTED JUN22 4971 SHEET 8 [IF 8 Jouu J. KLovEQ PATENTEU JUN22 I97! SHEET 6 OF 8 man: F 38F llbF JOHN J. \(LOVEQ.

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JOHN J. KLovER 4.. HOT Mgr -FIGH38Q RADIAL CHAMBER POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT, FLUID POWER DEVICE This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending Pat. application, Ser. No. 553,227, filed May 26, 1966, now issued as Pat. No. 3,529,909.

Generally speaking, the present invention relates to a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device comprising housing means defining an internal piston chamber having a transversely directed housing axis (which is usually substantially centrally disposed with respect to the housing means, although not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention); piston means positioned within said chamber and having a transversely directed piston axis substantially parallel with respect to said housing axis (and usually substantially centrally disposed with respect to said piston means, although not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention). The chamber has a larger cross-sectional area than the piston means in a plane perpendicular to the transversely directed housing and piston axes. The device includes a pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means having two eccentrically related substantially parallel axes coaxial, respectively, with said housing axis and said piston axis (and being similarly identified herein) and having a substantially parallel axis of operation of the complete device or system positioned in a plane terminating at one end and being coincident with said housing axis and terminating at the other end and being coincident with said piston axis and relatively rotatively supporting said housing means around said housing axis, relatively rotatively supporting said piston means around said piston axis, and supporting both said housing means and said piston means, as a system, for relative rotation around said axis of operation. The arrangement is such that the axis of operation may actually be coincident with and effectively comprise the housing axis in certain forms of the invention, may be coincident with and effectively comprise the piston axis in other forms of the invention, or may be positioned between the housing and piston axes in further forms of the invention. The relatively eccentric positioning of the piston means and the one of said pair of supporting means relatively rotatably supporting said piston means, and the relative cross-sectional shape of said piston means with respect to the larger cross-sectional shape of said chamber being so related as to provide and define radially varying chamber spaces at different relatively angularly shaped locations between said piston means and said housing means defining said chamber, with each such chamber space radially varying in extent as a function of relative rotative angular location of one relatively rotated axis of said housing and piston axes around said axis of operation, with said chamber space lying between the corresponding radially spaced portions of said piston means and said housing means. The device also includes at least one movable vane (usually more than one movable vane) sealingly cooperating with the piston means and a corresponding outwardly spaced inner wall of the housing means defining the chamber and circularly angularly dividing that portion of the chamber between the piston means and the inner wall of the housing means defining said chamber into at least two angularly adjacent ones of the above-mentioned chamber spaces. The device also includes means for effecting (which shall also mean allowing only) substantially simultaneous relative rotation of the housing means and the piston means with respect to the supporting means and centered on said axis of operation thereof while simultaneously effecting relative rotation of said housing means with respect to said supporting means centered on said housing axis and for simultaneously effecting relative rotation of said piston means with respect to said supporting means in a manner centered on said piston axis, while also effecting relative rotation of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means relative to said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means in an opposite direction in a manner such as to effect cyclic contraction and expansion of said chamber spaces without any substantial relative angular movement between said piston means and said housing means. As pointed out above, the axis of operation may comprise the housing axis, in which case the piston axis of the supporting means revolves around the housing axis relative to the housing means and piston means in a direction opposite from the relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said housing axis of said supporting means. As pointed out hereinabove in an alternate arrangement, the axis of operation may comprise the piston axis of the supporting means, in which case the housing axis of the supporting means revolves around the piston axis relative to the housing means and piston means in a direction opposite from the relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said piston axis of said supporting means. As pointed out hereinabove in a further alternate arrangement, the axis of operation may lie between the piston axis and the housing axis, in which case both thehousing axis and the piston axis of the supporting means revolve around the axis of operation relative to the housing means and the piston means in directions opposite from the relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means. The device also includes means for admitting a working fluid into and venting a working fluid from the chamber spaces, respectively, in timed relation to chamber-space-modifying relative movement of said piston means and said housing means in response to said substantially simultaneous relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation of at least one of said piston and housing axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means in said opposite direction.

Broadly speaking, the structure generally defined above may be said to comprise a driving device or a driven device insofar as the working fluid is concerned. In other words, the working fluid may be driven by the device (which must, of course, be independently powered or driven) or the device may be driven by the working fluid (which must be appropriately supplied with the necessary driving energy). In the first instance, the device may comprise a fluid pumping device for any effective fluid, such as plasma, gas, vapor, liquid, semiliquid, or liquid-solid slurry, or even finely divided particulate solid materialin fact, material in any form of other than rigid solid material in large masses. In the second instance, the device may comprise what might be termed a pressurized-fluid-actuated motor (adapted to be operated by a separately pressurized effective fluid such as defined above) or a combustion engine adapted to produce, by fuel combustion, its own pressurized fluid (burned combustion gasses) operating the engine so as to cause powered rotation of a power transmission portion or member of the motor or engine, which in this case comprises a mechanical output power transmission portion or member of the motor or engine, such as an output shaft, for example. The effective fluid may be pressurized in any suitable manner at any location, local or remote, and the engine may be of an internal combustion type or an external combustion type and may be of either an open thermal-cycle type or a closed-thermal-cycle type.

The above-mentioned substantially simultaneous relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means while simultaneously effecting relative rotation of one (and, in certain cases, both) of said piston and housing axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means in the opposite direction may be caused to occur in any of several different manners or modes of operation.

A first mode of operation of the device as referred to in the preceding paragraph occurs when said pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means, and the two eccentrically related housing and piston axes thereof, together with the axis of operation thereof, are nonrotatably mounted and at all times remain in fixed relationship to each other, while the housing means and the piston means are actually physically (and consequently also relatively) rotatably mounted by said pair of eccentrically related supporting means so as to simultaneously rotate around said axis of operation of said supporting means while said housing means rotates around said housing axis and said piston means rotates around said piston axis and one or the other of said housing and piston axes (and, in certain cases, both of same) of said supporting means relatively rotate around said axis of operation with respect to the actually physically rotating housing means and piston means and in a direction opposite to the actual physical rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation. In the first form of the invention, which operates in accordance with-the so-called first mode of operation, the piston means may properly be referred to as a rotor or rotor means (although the housing means also physically rotates) and both supporting means remain completely stationary and immovable. Also, in this first form of the invention, the device may be quite properly referred to as a rotary device and/or as a rotary chamber device, since the chamber (in particular, each chamber space thereof) does actually physically rotate around the axis of operation during operation of the device.

A second form of the invention, which operates in accordance with a second mode of operation comprises an arrangement such that the housing means and the piston means are mounted so as to be substantially actually physically rotatively immobilized by any means adapted to prevent actual physical rotation thereof as distinguished from relative rotation thereof with respect to the pair of supporting means. In this second form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the second mode of operation, the pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means and the two eccentrically related axes thereof are arranged to actually physically rotate around the axis of operation thereof, which, as previously pointed out, may be coincident with the housing axis coincident with the piston axis, or positioned therebetween in a manner such that at least one of said housing and piston axes (and, in certain forms of the invention, both of same) actually physically rotates around the axis of operation of said supporting means and causes the piston means and the housing means to relatively move outwardly and inwardly with respect to each other in a chamber-spacemodifying manner not accompanied by any actual physical rotation of said piston means and said housing means around said supporting means. In this second form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the above-mentioned second mode of operation thereof, despite the fact that the piston means, the housing means, the chamber (and, in particular, each chamber space thereof) do not actually physically rotate, the device can still be referred to as a rotary device because the pair of eccentrically related supporting means do actually physically rotate around the axis of operation.

The foregoing definition of the so-called second form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the so-called second mode of operation, is defined in generic terms and actually covers both a second and a subsequently described third mode of operation of the device.

In the specific form and mode of operation of the device, which hereinafter will be referred to as the second form of the device and the second mode of operation of the device, the above generically referred to axis of operation of the device is coincident with the housing axis of the supporting means and, therefore, the piston axis of the supporting means actually is the one which physically rotates around the combination axis of operation and housing axis of said supporting means and causes the above-described cyclic chamber-space-modifying relative movement of the nonrotating piston means and housing means.

In another fonn and mode of operation of the above broadly defined form and mode of operation of the device, which will hereinafter be specifically referred to as a third form of the device and a third mode of operation of the device, the axis of operation is coincident with the piston axis and the housing means and piston means are rotatively immobilized while the supporting means actually physically rotates around the piston axis. This specific third form of the device and third mode of operation thereof is more specifically defined immediately hereinafter.

The above-mentioned third form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the above-mentioned third mode of operation, comprises an arrangement such that the housing means and the piston means are again substantially rotatively immobilized or prevented from actual physical rotation (as distinguished from relative rotation with respect to the sup-' porting means) by any suitable means and the pair of eccentrically related supporting means (and the two eccentrically related piston and housing axes thereof) are arranged to rotate in a manner such that the housing axis actually physically rotates around the piston axis thereof in a manner such as to cause the housing means and the piston means to relatively move inwardly and outwardly with respect to each other in a chambenspace-modifying manner not accompanied by any actually physical rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said supporting means. In this third form of the invention, the device may also be referred to as a rotary device for substantially the same reasons as set forth in connection with the second form of the invention.

Also, the version of the invention wherein the supporting means actually physically rotates, while the housing means and the piston means do not, may take a fourth form which operates in accordance with what might be termed a fourth mode of operation. In this fourth form of the invention, the axis of operation lies between the housing axis and the piston axis of the supporting means and, thus, actual physical rotation of the supporting means around said operation axis causes both said piston axis and said housing axis to rotate around said axis of operation in a direction opposite to the relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means with respect to said supporting means (although, of course, it should be understood that actually said housing means and said piston means do not rotate physically at all in this exemplary, but nonspecifically limiting form of the invention). In this form of the invention, said actual physical rotation of said supporting means around said axis of operation positioned between said piston axis and said housing axis causes both the housing means and the piston means to actually physically move relative to said operation axis and relative to each other inwardly and outwardly in a chamber-space-modifying manner not accompanied by any actual physical rotation of said housing means and said piston means around said supporting means.

It should be noted that in the second and third forms of the invention referred to above, the piston means and the housing means, respectively, are, in effect, actually physically moved in an oscillatory manner by the actual physical rotation of the eccentrically related supporting means which, thus, provides a rotary in balance to the complete device which may be fully compensated for by the provision of oppositely positioned counterweight means so as to provide a fully dynamically balanced operating device. In the case of the fourth form of the invention broadly defined above, it will be noted that there are two unbalanced moving masses provided by the effective oppositely positioned eccentric portions of the supporting means lying on each side of the axis of operation and causing oppositely directed oscillatory movement of the housing means and the piston means and these may be so positioned and quantitatively arranged as to exactly cancel each other out as far as net imbalance to the complete operating device is concerned. It should also be noted that in the case of the second and third forms of the invention, more than two such rotary devices may be connected by structural means such as a common driving shaft, or the like, so that their imbalances are effectively oppositely directed and neutralize or cancel each other out.

In the above-mentioned first form of the invention, operating in accordance with the first mode of operation briefly defined above when the device is used as a pump requiring a driving mechanical input from an exterior source, either the housing means or the piston means (which is interchangeable with the expression rotor means" in this case) or any means drivingly coupled thereto, may be power rotated from an external power-driven shaft, pulley belt, sprocket chain and sprocket, gearing, or any other external source of energy, or means for coupling same, adequate to power rotate said housing means and said piston or rotor means, considered as a combination system, substantially simultaneously around said supporting means centered on said axis of operation thereof, although said housing means will also rotate around said housing axis and said piston or rotor means will also rotate around said piston axis. Conversely, when said first form of the invention is used as a pressurized-fluid-actuated motor or as an engine, either the housing means or the piston or rotor means, or any means effectively driven thereby, may effectively comprise an output member, or power transmission member, adapted to be appropriately coupled to some external means or mechanism which is to be power rotated or power driven. In either aspect of the inventionthat is, either as a driving device or a driven devicethe input power transmission means or the output power transmission means may be broadly defined as power transmission or coupling means irrespective of which direction the power is being transmitted therethrough.

In the above-mentioned second form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the above briefly described second mode of operation of the invention, when used as a pump requiring a driving mechanical input coupled to the device by way of power transmission means from an exterior source, the portion of said pair of supporting means having said housing axis therein and relatively rotatively supporting said housing means may be directly, or indirectly, power rotated on said housing axis by means of a gear, pulley belt, sprocket chain and sprocket, offset crank or other power transmission means, power-driven from an external powerdriven shaft, motor, or other external source of energy adequate to power rotate said supporting means portion. Conversely, when said second form of the invention is used as a pressurized-fluid-actuated motor or as an engine, the abovementioned portion of the supporting means, or any means effectively driven thereby, may effectively comprise output power transmission means adapted to be appropriately coupled to some external means or mechanism which is to be power rotated or power driven.

In the third above-mentioned form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the third above-mentioned mode of operation, when used as a pump requiring a driving mechanical input coupled to the device by way of powertransmission means for an exterior source of mechanical rotary power, the portion of said pair of supporting means having said piston axis and relatively rotatively supporting said piston means may be directly, or indirectly, power rotated on said piston axis by means of a gear, pulley belt, sprocket chain and sprocket, offset crank, or other power transmission means power driven from an external power-driven shaft, motor, or other external source of energy adequate to power rotate said supporting means portion. Conversely, when said third form of the invention is used as a pressurized-fluid-actuated motor or as an engine, the above-mentioned portion of the supporting means, or any means effectively coupled thereto or driven thereby, may effectively comprise an output power transmission means or member adapted to be appropriately coupled to some external means or mechanism which is to be power rotated or power driven by the motor or engine.

In the fourth above-mentioned form of the invention, which operates in accordance with the fourth above-mentioned mode of operation, when used as a pump requiring a driving mechanical input coupled to the device by way of power transmission means from an exterior source of mechanical rotary power, the supporting means may be, directly or indirectly, power rotated around said axis of operation by means of gearing, pulley belt means, sprocket chain and sprocket means, offset crank means, or other power transmission means power driven from an external power-driven shaft, motor, or other external source of energy adequate to power rotate said supporting means. Conversely, when said fourth form of the invention is used as a pressurized-fiuid-actuated motor or as an engine, the supporting means, rotating around said intermediate axis of operation, or any means effectively coupled thereto or driven thereby, may effectively comprise an output power transmission means or member adapted to be appropriately coupled to some external means or mechanism which is to be power rotated or power driven by the motor or engine.

It should be noted that throughout this application specific reference is made to various different specific forms and/or aspects of the present broad generic and comprehensive invention, and to various different specific subportions thereof individually and in various different specific combinations, without specific reference in each instance to the substantial equivalency, replaceability, substitutibility, and/or interchangeability thereof, or of any portion thereof, by other specific, alternate, and/or broader aspects or forms of the invention, either as to major forms or portions thereof and/or as to lesser subcombination or subportion parts thereof, considered either individually or in any of numerous different possible combinations, and/or to the possibility of eliminating certain portions thereof in certain forms of the invention, with all such modifications being intended to be included and comprehended within the broad scope of this invention and application. Therefore, all such specific references are to be considered as exemplary only and nonspecifically limiting and are to be broadly read, construed, interpreted, and applied in the manner referred to in the foregoing statement with respect to broadness of definition, substantial equivalency, replaceability, substitutibility, interchangeability, and/or elimination of various different specifically referred to forms and/or portions of the complete, broad, inventive concept intended to be fully disclosed herein, and with respect to virtually all possible permutations and combinations of different subcombination portions thereof, which are also intended to be fully included within the scope hereof.

Taking into account the foregoing paragraph, I have elected, for exemplary purposes only, initially, in following pages of text, to primarily refer to that one of the many different included forms of the invention which operates in accordance with the hereinbefore generally described first mode of operation and which, therefore, may be said to comprise one version of the hereinbefore generically described first form of the invention, and which is illustrated and described largely in the driven aspect thereof (driven insofar as the working fluid is concerned) hereinbefore referred to as the second instance thereof where it comprises an engine (or motor) having a mechanical output member and is adapted to be operated by pressurized fluid, such as bumed-fuel combustion gasses, for example. The foregoing statement is also substantially true of the brief figure description portion of this specification briefly describing and identifying the first 13 figures of the accompanying drawings (as well as being true of said FIGS. 1-13 inclusive themselves), and is true of the text set forth on the pages of this specification immediately following the end of the complete figure description portion of the specification and describing said FIGS. 1-13 inclusive in specific detail-all of which is to be considered as exemplary only and nonspecifically limiting and to be construed broadly in the light of the preceding paragraph.

In its broader aspects, the hereinbefore-mentioned first form, second instance of the invention provides a pressurizedfiuid-operated device of the kind which is characterized by a housing (broadly speaking, housing means) defining an internal chamber, a rotor (broadly speaking, piston means) mounted within the chamber for turning on an axis eccentric to the chamber axis and with either the housing or the rotor having one or more angularly spaced movable vanes defining chamber spaces therebetween, and means for admitting a working fluid to and venting the working fluid from these chamber spaces in timed relation to rotation of the rotor. This basic structure of the present pressure fluid device will be recognized as that which is common to certain types of rotary pumps, rotary fluid pressure actuated motors, and rotary combustion engines. In this regard, it is significant to know at the outset that the improvement features of the invention may be utilized to great advantage in all three of the above-mentioned types of pressure fluid devicesi.e., pumps, motors, and engines. However, the hereinbefore-mentioned first form of the invention has great utility in and will be disclosed in connection with its application to rotary internal combustion engines, primarily for exemplary, although nonspecifically limiting, purposes.

In pressurized-fluid-operated devices of the kind under discussion, the volume of each chamber space alternately increases and decreases as the rotor turns due to the eccentricity of the rotor axis relative to the rotor chamber axis. This eccentric rotation of the rotor, of course, is permitted by the vanes by virtue of the fact that, in one exemplary and nonspecific-ally limiting form of the invention where they are carried by the rotor, these vanes are yieldably urged outwardly into fluid sealing relation to the wall of the rotor chamber, such that the vanes can move in and out of the rotor body to accommodate the continuous change in the radial spacing between any given point on the body and the chamber wall which occurs as the rotor turns. in a rotary pump of this kind, the valving is arranged to communicate each chamber space to a relatively low pressure fluid inlet during expansion of the respective chamber space and to a relatively high pressure fluid outlet during contraction of the chamber space, whereby the device exhibits a continuous pumping action. If the device is a fluidpressure-actuated motor, the valving is arranged to communicate each chamber space to a relatively high pressure fluid inlet during expansion of the respective chamber space and to a relatively low pressure fluid outlet during contraction of the chamber space..ln this case, action of the high pressure fluid within each chamber space on the unequal areas of the rotor vanes, and/or effectively eccentric portions of the rotor, bounding the space create a net torque in one direction on the rotor which drives the latter in rotation. The working fluid may be a liquid, a gas from an external pressurized gas source, or a gas generated by an external or internal combustion process. The operation of a rotary pressure fluid device, when used as an internal combustion engine, is essentially the same as in the case of the motor just discussed. In a rotary internal combustion engine, is essentiallythe same as in the case of the motor just discussed. In a rotary internal combustion engine, however, the high pressure working fluid in a gas (or gasses) generated directly within each chamber space by the burning of a combustible fuel in the space. As noted earlier while the present invention may be utilized to advantage in all of these types of rotary pressurizedfluid-operated devices, the hereinbefore-mentioned first form of the invention will be hereinafter initially disclosed primarily in connection with an internal combustion engine for exemplary, although nonspecifically limiting, purposes.

The existing rotary pressure fluid devices of the kind under discussion, while satisfactory in many ways, possess certain deficiencies which this invention seeks to cure. Many of these deficiencies have long been troublesome to those working in the art and have prevented large scale use of some kinds of rotary pressure fluid devices, particularly rotary internal combustion engines. This is true even though such engines are known to be superior, from many standpoints, to reciprocating piston engines.

Many of the deficiencies of the prior art rotary pressure fluid devices result from the fact that the rotor and housing of such devices undergo relative rotation-that is, rotation with respect to each other. Thus, in the majority, if not all, of the prior art devices, at least those of which I am aware, the housing is stationary and the eccentric rotor turns within and relative to the housing. This relative rotation of the rotor and housing has several disadvantages. For example, relative rotation of the rotor and housing results in sliding movement of the outer edges of the rotor vanes about or along the inner wall surfaces of the rotor chamber. Such sliding movement, of course, creates substantial wear and friction loss. Moreover, the rotor body and rotor chamber must be circular or generally circular in transverse cross section. In most of the prior art devices, both the rotor body and rotor chamber are circular in cross section, and expansion and contraction of the chamber spaces defined by the rotor vanes is accomplished by eccentric placement of the rotor in the chamber. In some cases, however, the rotor chambers are noncircular, such as generally elliptical. The prior art devices with such noncircular rotor chamber cross sections however, are costly to manufacture, give rise to excessive wear and friction loss between the rotor vanes and the wall surfaces of the rotor chamber, and are otherwise undesirable from the standpoint of manufacture, operation, and maintenance. It is obvious that the foregoing deficiencies of the prior art rotary pressure fluid devices are particularly serious in the case of rotary internal combustion engines.

One highly important aspect of the present invention is concerned with the fact that the housing as well as the rotor, of the hereinbefore-mentioned first form of the present improved pressure fluid device turns and, moreover, in unison with the rotor. This unified rotation of the rotor and housing occurs in such a way that the rotor and housing do not undergo relative rotation, at least any substantial relative rotation. As a consequence, the invention achieves a great reduction in wear and friction loss, particularly between the rotor vanes and the walls of the rotor chamber. Since the rotor vanes arenot required to slide along the walls of the rotor chamber, machining of the present pressure fluid device is greatly simplified and reduced in cost. Moreover, the housing and rotor may have a wide variety of configurations or geometries in transverse cross section, including both circular and noncircular geometries. This permits much greater freedom in engine design or, for that matter, in pump or compressor design. in this regard, for example, another highly important aspect of the invention is concerned with certain unique housing and rotor shapes or geometries which maximize the ratio between the maximum and minimum volumes of each chamber space defined by the rotor vanes. Obviously, this aspect or feature of the invention is particularly important and advantageous in rotary engines for the reason that it permits a maximum compression ratio in the engine and maximum efficiency and power output. it is also largely true of pumps and/or compressors.

At this point, it is significant to note that in the hereinbefore-mentioned first form of the present pressure fluid device, each chamber space is bounded by walls which rotate in unison. ln effect, then, each chamber space rotates with the rotor. Hence, the use of the descriptive phrase rotary chamber in connection with said first form of the present device.

Another disadvantage of many prior art rotary pressure fluid devices of the kind under discussion is their dynamic unbalance. Such unbalance is particularly serious in rotary engines, of course, because of their relatively high speeds of operation. An important feature of the present device is its dynamic balance which is achieved by the unique arrangement of the rotor and housing.

Yet a further deficiency of the prior rotary pressure fluid devices, particularly rotary engines, is concerned with the problem of sealing theretofore vanes to the wall of the rotor chamber. It is obvious, of course, that if an efficient seal is not provided between the rotor vanes and the walls of the rotor chamber, leakage of working fluid can occur from one chamber space to an adjacent chamber space. In the case of rotary fluid pumps and motors, such fluid leakage merely reduces the efficiency of the devices. Leakage of working fluid between adjacent chamber spaces in a rotary engine also reduces engine efficiency. More serious, however, is the fact that leakage of hot combustion gas from a chamber space under combustion or under exhaust to an adjacent chamber space undergoing the compression or the intake portion of its cycle may cause preignition of the fuel in the adjacent chamber space. Such preignition produces a resisting torque on the rotor in opposition to the normal driving torque on the rotor, causes rough engine operation, reduces engine power and efficiency, and frequently causes major damage to the engine to occur.

According to the exemplary, but nonspecifically limiting, first form, second instance of the present invention, leakage of working fluid between adjacent chamber spaces of the fluid pressure device is prevented in a new and unique way. First, the rotor body and vanes are provided with vane-actuating or vane-biasing means, which in one specific exemplary, but non specifically limiting, arrangement, take the form of having the rotor body and vanes equipped with interfitting plungers and chambers and with passages which communicate these vane chambers to the chamber spaces defined between the vanes. Accordingly, when each chamber space is pressurized, high pressure fluid from the space acts to urge the adjacent rotor vanes outwardly into more intimate fluid sealing relation with the wall of the rotor chamber. This may also be done without the use of the plungers by direct pressure on the vanes. This serves to maintain the vanes in intimate fluid sealing relation with the rotor chamber wall and, thereby, to minimize the entrance of working fluid between the outer edges of the vanes and the chamber wall. Secondly, the rotor vanes, in certain exemplary, but nonspecifically limiting forms, are equipped with vent passages which open centrally through the outer chamber wall-engaging edges of the vanes and communicate to a low pressure region, which, in some cases, may be ambient atmosphere. Accordingly, any working fluid which does enter between the outer edges of the vanes and the wall of the rotor chamber is effectively bled off to the low pressure region, or ambient atmosphere, and is thus prevented from entering the adjacent chamber space.

The improved device of the invention has certain other unique features and advantages which will become evident as the description proceeds. Some of these additional features, for example, are a unique cooling arrangement for use in a rotary chamber engine according to the invention a novel supercharging action for the engine, and unique valving which may be employed in any or all of the different forms of the present pressure fluid device.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel rotary chamber fluid device of the character described.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a rotary chamber pressure fluid device which may comprise a rotary pump for pressurizing a working fluid, a rotary motor to be actuated by a pressurized working fluid, or a rotary combustion engine wherein the working fluid comprises hot combustion gas which may be generated by a combustion process taking place externally of the engine or directly within the chamber spaces of the engine.

A highly important object of the invention is to provide a rotary pressure fluid device of the character described wherein the rotor and rotor housing rotate in unison in such a way as to eliminate relative rotation between the rotor and housing and, thereby, wear and friction loss.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a rotary pressure fluid device of the character described wherein the rotor and rotor chamber may have a variety of different shapes or geometries, both circular and noncircular, in transverse cross section, thereby permitting substantially greater freedom in engine design.

A related object of the invention is to provide a rotary pressure fluid device according to the foregoing object wherein the rotor and rotor chamber have a unique noncircular cross section which results in a substantial increase in the ratio between the maximum and minimum volumes of the chamber spaces defined by the rotor vanes.

Another related object of the invention is to provide a rotary chamber engine according to the foregoing object which exhibits a maximum compression ratio hence maximum power output and efficiency.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotary chamber pressure fluid device of the character described wherein leakage of working fluid between the adjacent chamber spaces, across the intervening rotor vane, is effectively eliminated.

A related object of the invention is to provide a rotary chamber engine according to the foregoing object wherein preignition, resulting from the leakage of hot combustion gas from a chamber space under combustion or under exhaust to an adjacent chamber space under compression or during intake, is avoided.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a rotary chamber engine of the character described having a unique cooling system and an associated supercharging action.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a rotary chamber pressure fluid device of the character described having several unique valve arrangements for admitting working fluid to and venting or exhausting working fluid from the chamber spaces of the device.

Other objects of the invention are concerned with providing a rotary chamber pressure fluid device and engine of the character described which are relatively simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, reliable in operation, require minimum servicing, are relatively immune to malfunctioning, and are otherwise ideally suited to their intended purposes.

As previously pointed out, the foregoing objects pertain primarily to the previously described first form of the invention and to the first mode of operation thereof wherein the device actually has a rotary chamber by reason of the substantially simultaneous rotation of a hollow housing means and in an inner piston means (which actually comprises a rotor as referred to in the preceding objects). Also, the foregoing objects refer primarily to the driven aspect of the invention hereinbefore referred to as the second instance thereof where it comprises an engine or motor having a mechanical output member and is adapted to be operated by pressurized fluid, such as burned-fuel combustion gasses, for example. However, as previously pointed out, the invention is substantially broader than just the previously described first form of the invention operating in accordance with the previously described first mode of operation thereof and, therefore, the objects which follow more broadly refer to other forms and other modes of operation of the invention.

ln its broadest conception, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character referred to herein which has any or all of the advantages referred to herein, including any or all of the features referred to herein, generically and/or specifically and individually or in combination, and which may actually comprise a device wherein the housing means and piston or rotor means actually physically rotate substantially in unison relative to the previously mentioned pair of eccentrically related supporting means so as to produce relative chamber space modifying movement of the piston or rotor means with respect to the housing means (or the reverse) during such substantially simultaneous rotation thereof in a manner which may be said to also effectively produce substantially simultaneous rotation of one or more rotary chamber spaces between the piston or rotor and the housing means, or which may actually comprise a device wherein the housing means and piston means do not actually physically rotate but wherein the previously mentioned pair of eccentrically related supporting means do actually physically rotate relative to the housing means and the piston means and thus produce chamber-space-modifying relative movement of the piston means and the housing means without effectively rotating the chamber space. In other words, in this second form of the invention operating in accordance with a second ill.

mode of operation, the one or more chamber spaces defined between the piston and the housing means are radially disposed or located relative to the center of the complete device but do not rotate therearound as in the first abovementioned form of the invention operating in accordance with the first above-mentioned mode of operation thereof. The invention may also operate in a manner which may be said to be a combustion of the first and second modes of operation briefly described abovethat is, where the housing means and piston or rotor means relatively rotate in substantial unison with respect to the eccentrically related pair of supporting means and wherein both said eccentrically related pair of supporting means and said housing means and piston means not only relatively rotate with respect to each other but also actually physically rotate. In other words, the invention contemplates and includes any arrangements wherein the housing means and piston means relatively rotate substantially in unison with respect to the pair of eccentrically related pair of supporting means and irrespective of whether or not either of same is fixed iii an absolute sense or both are free to rotate (in differing manners, of course) in an absolute sense while yet producing relative rotation therebetween and in every case in a manner such that the relative and substantially unified rotation of the housing means and the piston means with respect to the eccentrically related pair of supporting means will be centered around an axis of operation which may be coincident with either one of a pair of eccentrically related axes of said supporting means coaxial with an effectively comprising a housing axis and a piston axis, or which may be positioned between said housing axis and said piston axis, while simultaneously effecting relative rotation of another one of said pair of eccentrically related axes of said supporting means (and, in some forms of the invention, both of same) around said axis of operation in the opposite direction in a manner such as to effect cyclic contraction and expansion of chamber spaces between the smaller diameter piston means and the corresponding inner wall portion of the larger diameter housing means,

it is another object of the present invention to provide a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character referred to above which may comprise an effective pump or compressor for moving and/or pressurizing a volume of working fluid in one or more stages or in a plurality of successive stages, or which may comprise a motor adapted to be actuated by a pressurized working fluid, or which may comprise a combustion engine wherein the working fluid comprises hot combustion gasses which may be generated by a combustion process taking place externally of the engine or internally of the engine. Incidentally, it should be noted that the word pump, as used in this paragraph and as used elsewhere throughout this application, is not limited to the conventional meaning of a positive pump-that is, one which moves or pressurizes a volume of working fluid on the output side thereof-but is also intended to mean a negative pump which is sometimes referred to as a vacuum pump wherein the input side thereof is connected to working fluid in a region which is to have the pressure of said working fluid greatly reduced by evacuation of the working fluid from the region, and it should be noted that both of these meanings are intended to be included and comprehended in the broad scope of the present invention and application.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character referred to above wherein the piston means and housing means do not have any substantial relative angular or rotative displacement with respect to each other during opera tion of the device, whereby to eliminate relative wear and friction less such as normally occurs in most pumps and/or engines having a rotor and a rotor housing which relatively rotate with respect to each other.

it is a further object of the present invention to provide a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the piston means and the chamber defined within the housing means may have a variety of different shapes or geometries, both circular and noncircular in transverse cross section or shaped in a great variety of other manners in transverse cross section, whereby to permit substantially greater freedom in engine and/or pump design.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the piston means and chamber defined within the housing means have a unique noncircular cross section which results in a substantial increase in the ratio between the maximum and minimum volumes of chamber spaces defined by and between the piston means, the adjacent inner wall of the housing means, and vanes effectively sealingly cooperating therewith.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the leakage of working fluid between adjacent chamber spaces across intervening portions of the piston means and the vane (or vanes) effectively sealingly interconnecting the piston means and the adjacent corresponding portions of the housing means is effectively eliminated.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described taking the form of an engine and embodying the features set forth in the preceding object wherein preignition, which normally might result from the leakage of hot combustion gasses from a chamber space under combustion or under exhaust into an adjacent chamber space under compression or during intake, is substantially completely eliminated, avoided, and/or overcome.

it is a further object of the present invention to provide a radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described including any of a variety of different valving arrangements for admitting working fluid into and venting or exhausting working fluid from the chamber spaces of the device in proper sequence according to the desired mode of operation thereof as a pump or compressor, motor, or engine and according to whether it is to be operated as a twocycle or four-cycle device or is otherwise operated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the chamber defined within the housing means may have a rectangular shape or virtually any other desired shape and wherein the device is not limited to any specific number of chamber spaces but may have any number of chamber spaces ranging from two on upward and wherein the chamber spaces, if desired in certain forms of the invention, may have different volumes and also wherein said chamber spaces, if desired, may be appropriately ported in series for the purpose of providing a multistage device such as a multistage compressor, for example, although the invention is not specifically so limited.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the piston means and housing means may be effectively mechanically synchronized in any of a variety of different ways including positive gear coupling therebetween; holes carrying bolts, or bolts and spacers, or bolts and eccentric bushings effectively coupling the piston means and housing means for substantially unified relative rotation with respect to a pair of eccentrically related supporting means while allowing the relative chamberspace-modifying displacement thereof produced by reason of the eccentric mounting of the piston means with respect to the housing means. Also, crank pin means may be used for synchronizing the piston means and the housing means. Also, friction between the piston means and the housing means or between the vane means and the housing means may be employed as such effective synchronization means. Additionally, in certain forms of the invention where the piston means and the housing means have similar nonround configurations, these nonround configurations may be employed as effective mechanical synchronization means. In addition, a great variety of other types of synchronization means which will result in substantially unified relative rotation of the piston means and the housing means relative to the pair of eccentrically related supporting means may be employed, and all such are within the broad scope of the present invention.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the piston means is effectively flanged and cooperates with a simplified, one-sided form of housing means for the purpose of providing an extremely simple structure not requiring a completely enclosing housing means.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the chamber-defining surfaces of the housing means and the piston means are not limited to being parallel to their own individual longitudinal axes of rotation but may effectively converge or diverge along the length of said axes of rotation, respectively, in a manner which may be said to be longitudinally axially drafted or angled. In this form of the invention, a thrust bearing may be effectively intercoupled between the piston means and the housing means to compensate for the relative axial thrust produced by said axial drafting or angling, which may be of any desired contour along the length thereof as seen in a direction perpendicular to the length thereof, and, in certain forms of the invention where either the housing means or the piston means is firmly supported in an axially upstanding manner, the direction of said drafting or angling may be such that the axial thrust produced on the other one of said piston and housing means will effectively support same, or will provide at least a portion of said support for same, during operation of the device.

it is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described which can be fabricated from virtually all common materials by common means. For example, the device may be made from injection-molded plastic in certain forms thereof. In other forms of the invention, it may be made of cast metal. Also in certain forms the vanes may be made of flexible rubberlike or elastomeric material or any substantial equivalent thereof. However, these are merely illustrative of the many different materials and/or fabrication or production processes which may be employed in manufacturing the device and are not to be construed as specifically limiting same.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein chamber, or chamber space, displacement can be varied or made adjustable by the provision of eccentricity modifying means for effectively changing the distance between the two eccentrically related axes of the eccentrically supported piston means and housing means (usually by adjusting the physical spacing between the two eccentrically related axes of the supporting means).

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein synchronization may be achieved by effectively coupling the piston and/or the vane means with respect to the housing means in a manner permitting the relatively eccentric movement provided by reason of the supporting of the piston means and the housing means by said pair of eccentrically related supporting means while preventing any other substantial relative rotative angular movement therebetween. For example, said means may include, in addition to those previously referred to, the provision of slots coupling the vane means and/or the piston means relative to the housing means, or any other substantially functionally equivalent arrangement.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the valving means may comprise a central spindle or pintle valve adapted for operation by relatively rotatable, axial, or other timed relative movement with respect to the corresponding chamber spaces, spring-biased ball or check valves or any substantial equivalent (differential-pressure-operated, or otherwise operated, in the proper timed sequential relationship), camoperated poppet valves, spool valves, mushroom valves, or the like, gear-operated, or otherwise operated rotary valves coupled to the rotating portion of the device, with any or all of said valving means being carried by portions of the piston means, portions of the housing means, or portions of both. Also, said valving means may include fluid port means communicating with the chamber spaces and passing through either the piston means, the housing means, or portions of both. Also, the invention is not limited to one fluid port of the valving means per chamber space but may include more than one.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device wherein the piston means is of smaller transverse crosssectional area than the chamber defined within the housing means and wherein one or more vanes are provided and effectively sealingly cooperate with respect to corresponding portions of the piston means and the housing means wherebyto divide the chamber into at least two chamber spaces.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character referred to in the preceding object wherein the vanes are effectively controllably extendably and retractably carried by the piston means with outer ends thereof being adapted to sealingly engage corresponding inner wall portions of the housing means in any of a variety of different manners and having any of a variety of different shapes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described in the second preceding object wherein the vanes are effectively carried by the inner wall of the housing means and effectively extend inwardly for relatively displaceable sealing cooperation with respect to the piston means.

it is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described herein wherein one or more such vanes may be effectively biased into sealing relationship by any of a variety of effective vane-actuating or vane-biasing means which may take the form of fluid pressure means, spring means, centrifugal force provided during the operation of the device, magnetically caused force, or any other means for effectively biasing the vane means into sealing relationship at either or both ends relative to either the piston means, the housing means, both of same, or any other auxiliary sealing structures carried thereby. Such fluid pressure for actuating purposes can be provided from the chamber spaces of the device or from auxiliary pressure means, such as a separate pump, or from any other outside pressure source.

it is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described above wherein the vanes may lie in relatively radial positions or relatively nonradial positions or any other positions extending between portions of the piston means and the housing means and effectively sealingly cooperable therewith for dividing the housing chamber into at least two chamber spaces.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described which may have the piston means and/or the vane means provided along edges thereof with appropriate groove means and seal means mounted therein for positively sealing the piston means and the vane means relative to corresponding interior wall surface portions of the housing means.

It is a further'object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein the synchronizing means may comprise through-bolts extending from one end of the housing to the other end thereof through corresponding holes in the piston means and there being provided with eccentric bushing means, and with said bolt means effectively providing structural strength to said end walls of the housing means for withstanding high interior chamber space pressures with the wall thickness of the housing means being at a minimum.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described wherein end walls of the housing may be axially loaded against interior chamber fluid pressures by venting chamber fluids behind or outwardly of inner chamber-defining surface portions of said end wall parts of the housing means or by providing other substantially equivalent pressure-neutralizing arrangements.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character described and wherein the pair of eccentrically related supporting means supporting the piston means and the housing means is actually physically rotated relative to the nonphysically rotating housing means and piston means in a manner centered around an axis of operation coincident with one or the other of the two eccentrically related axes of the supporting means, or positioned therebetween by a.direct axial drive centered on said axis of operation, an offset eccentric or crankshaft drive of the other of said axes (in certain forms of the invention, either one or both) around said axis of operation, or a relatively eccentric drive of said piston means with respect to said housing means (or the reverse) at one or more locations adjacent to, or displaced from, the axial center of the piston means and/or the housing means.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device of the character referred to herein which is of relatively simple, inexpensive construction adapted for manufacture with a relative minimum of tooling and, therefore, of capital costs and also adapted for production with a relative minimum of manufacturing operations and at a relatively low cost per unit such as to facilitate widespread and large scale manufacture, sale, and use of the invention for the purpose referred to herein or for any other substantially equivalent purposes.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those versed in the art from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described immediately hereinafter.

FIG. I is an axial section (except for an arcuately displaced section at the top of the outer casing) through a rotary chamber engine according to the invention taken substantially as indicated by the arrows I-I of FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. I.

FIG. 3 is a section taken partially on line 3-3 of FIG. I along a plane containing two of the three vane-actuating means, partially along a plane axially displaced therefrom in order to show a typical one of three vane-end-venting means, and partially along a central plane to show the valve means.

FIG. 3a is a fragmentary section through the periphery of the rotor and housing of the rotary engine in FIG. I illustrating the manner in which these parts may be provided with cooling fins.

FIG. d is a section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. I.

FIG. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. I.

FIGS. 60 through 6h diagrammatically illustrate the operating cycle of the engine of FIG. I.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a rotary vanc assembly embodied in the engine of FIG. I.

FIG. b is an enlarged section taken on line b-% of FIG. I illustrating certain relationships of the intake and exhaust valving embodied in the engine.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative intake and exhaust valving arrangement which may be embodied in the engine.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary axial section through a further modified rotary chamber engine according to the invention, illustrating an alternative placement of the engine spark plugs.

FIG. 11 is a transverse section through a modified rotary chamber engine according to the invention.

FIG. I2 is a transverse section through a modified rotary chamber engine according to the invention embodying a rotor and rotor chamber of unique geometry which results in a substantially increased compression ratio.

FIG. I3 is a section similar to FIG. 12 illustrating the rotor and housing of the engine in FIG. 12 in a subsequent position of operation.

FIG. 14 is a view similar in many respects to FIG. 12 but illustrates a slight modification thereof which comprises a pump or compressor adapted to be exteriorly driven by a driving belt (although not specifically so limited) and further having the central spindle or pintle valve arranged for two-cycle operation (although again not specifically so limited). This view is primarily a sectional view taken substantially on the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 14-14 of FIG. I5.

FIG. I5 is a view, largely in section, although the central spindle or pintle valve is shown in elevation, taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows I5-I5 of FIG. I4.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary axial longitudinal sectional view of the spindle or pintle valve alone, with the rest of the device removed for reasons of drawing simplification and clarity, taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 16-16 of FIG. I5.

FIG. I7 is a view similar to FIG. I4 but comprises the second in a sequence of four sequential views (with FIG. I4 comprising the first of said sequential views) and shows the piston or rotor and the housing rotated in a clockwise direction from the positions of said parts of the device as shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. I8 is another view similar to FIG. 14 but comprises the third in a sequence of four sequential views (with FIG. 14 comprising the first of said sequential views) and shows the piston or rotor and the housing rotated in a clockwise direction from the positions of said parts of the device as shown in FIG. I4.

FIG. x9 is another view similar to FIG. I4 but comprises the fourth in a sequence of four sequential views (with FIG. 14 comprising the first of said sequential views) and shows the piston or rotor and the housing rotated 270 in a clockwise direction from the positions thereof as shown in FIG. I4.

FIG. 20 is a simplified and somewhat diagrammatic view similar in many respects to FIG. 14, but illustrates one exemplary of many possible differently shaped forms which the device may take both as to the shape of the exterior housing and the interior piston or rotor, each of which in this case is shown as being of rectangular form (although not specifically so limited).

FIG. 2I is another view of the rectangular form of the device shown in FIG. 20, which in this view has the piston or rotor and the housing rotated 90 in a clockwise direction from the positions thereof as shown in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a view partly in top plan elevation and partly in section taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 22-22 of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a view similar in many respects to FIG. 22 and is taken from the same vantage point, but illustrates a slight modification of the rectangular elevational form of the device shown in FIGS. 2I and 22 and which, in this modification in top plan view or top section, is substantially cylindrical rather than rectangular.

FIG. 2a is a view generally similar to FIG. 2! but illustrates a further modified form of the device which has only two vanes and two chamber spaces.

FIG. 25 is a view similar to FIG. 24 and shows another form of two-vane, two-chamber-space version of the device similar in many respects to the form shown in FIG. 2 but which, in

this case, is of generally rectangular configuration as seen in end elevation or end section.

FIG. 26 is a view generally similar to FIG. 25 but illustrates a slight modification thereof having a single longitudinal vane rather than two vanes, with said single longitudinal vane passing completely through the split or apertured piston or rotor so as to allow the single longitudinal vane to relatively axially move with respect thereto.

FIG. 27 is a fragmentary and elevational or end sectional view generally similar in many respects to FIG. 14 as to aspect and position but illustrating a modified form of the device where the chamber defined by the housing and the piston or rotor are of what might be termed scalloped" shaped in a manner such as to effectively minimize the length of the piston fluid ports comprising part of the valving system whereby to effectively maximize the compression ratio of the device.

FIG. 28 is a view generally similar to FIG. but shows the piston or rotor and the housing immobilized, such as by being rigidly mounted, and conversely shows the first and second supporting means relatively rotatably mounting the housing on a housing axis and relatively rotatably mounting the piston or rotor (and the spindle valve) on a piston axis eccentric to the housing axis, with said supporting means being power rotated around the housing axis of the supporting means and the housing. This view shows the housing of the effectively rotatively unified and immobilized housing and piston as being the one fixedly attached with respect to a base support.

FIG. 29 is a view generally similar to FIG. 28 but in this case shows the piston or rotor as the one of the substantially rotatively unified piston and housing as being the one thereof fixedly attached with respect to a fixed mounting support.

FIG. 30 is a view also generally like FIG. 15 but shows the interior chamber defined by the inner surface of the housing and the corresponding exterior edge portions of the piston or rotor axially longitudinally drafted or angled and also shows a thrust bearing at the end thereof to compensate for the relative longitudinal displacement of the piston or rotor with respect to the housing, which would normally occur if said thrust bearing were not present, unless the entire device is vertically axially oriented in a direction such that the downward force of gravity acting on the piston (or on the housing) functions as a substitute for said thrust bearing.

FIG. 31 is a somewhat fragmentary diagrammatic end elevational view of a modified form of the invention taken substantially in the direction of the arrows 31-31 of FIG. 32 and illustrates in fragmentary form one exemplary one of many possible forms of a means for adjusting the extent of the eccentricity of the piston or rotor mounting relative to the housing mounting as carried by the two previously referred to eccentrically related supporting means.

FIG. 32 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 32-32 of FIG. 3B and further illustrates the novel exemplary but nonspecifically limiting eccentricity adjustment means illustrated in FIG. 31.

FIG. 33 is a fragmentary enlarged, somewhat diagrammatic and schematic view partially in end elevation and partly in end section taken substantially along a plane and in a direction such as is indicated by the arrows 33-33 of FIG. 34 and clearly illustrates one exemplary form of bolt, spacer, and hole type of synchronizing means for synchronizing relative rotation of said piston or rotor and said housing around the axis of said housing.

FIG. 34 is another fragmentary, somewhat enlarged side view partly in elevation and partly in section showing the bolt, symmetrical spacer, and hole type of synchronizing means of FIG. 33 substantially as viewed along the plane indicated by the arrows 34-34 of FIG. 33.

FIG. 35 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 35-35 of FIG. 36 and clearly shows a modified type of synchronizing means taking the form of a crank pin for effectively synchronizing the housing and piston or rotor while allowing chamber-space-modifying relative movement thereof only.

FIG. 36 is an enlarged fragmentary and elevational view taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 36-36 of FIG. 35 and illustrates the crank pin synchronization means as seen from the end rather than from the side.

FIG. 37 is a fragmentary somewhat diagrammatic and schematic view taken from a position generally similar to FIG. 15 but illustrates a modified form of the invention having a modified type of valving including oppositely directed intake and exhaust check valves and, in the case of the exhaust check valve, including a fluid exhaust port passage carried by the housing rather than by the central spindle or pintle valve in the manner of the FIG. 15 form of the invention.

FIG. 38 is a fragmentary, partially broken-away view of an aspect similar to FIG. 37 but illustrating a modification of the valving arrangement including intake and exhaust check valves so arranged as to be nonresponsive to centrifugal force.

FIG. 38a is a fragmentary, partially broken-away view similar to a top portion only of FIG. 38 but illustrating a further slight modification of the valving arrangement.

FIG. 39 is a fragmentary view of an aspect generally similar to FIG. 38 but illustrates a further modification of the valving arrangement wherein the valving arrangement comprises a spring-biased spool valve and an operating cam means adapted to cause appropriate operation of the spool valve in timed relationship to relative rotative operation of the device when functioning in a two-cycle mode of operation (although not specifically so limited).

FIG. 40 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view generally similar to the central portion only of FIG. 14 showing only the valve means and illustrating it in a modified form.

FIG. 41 is a fragmentary view of an aspect generally similar to FIG. 14 but illustrates another modified form of the invention having flexible vanes.

FIG. 42 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of another modification of the device of a type generally similar to that illustrated in FIGS. l4, l5, and 16 but shows the triangularly shaped piston or rotor alone and illustrates it, and the three vanes carried thereby, as being provided with a novel type of seal for sealingly engaging both opposite end walls of the housing means and sidewalls of the housing means.

FIG. 43 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 43-43 of FIG. 42.

FIG. 44 is a right side elevational view of the triangularly shaped piston or rotor illustrated in FIG. 42 but shows it with the vanes removed therefrom.

FIG. 45 is a fragmentary view of an aspect generally similar to FIG. 28 or FIG. 29, but shows a modified arrangement wherein the axis of operation lies between the housing axis and the piston axis and, thus, causes oppositely directed eccentric wobble of the pair of eccentrically related supporting means and of the housing and piston moved in a chamberspace-modifying manner therebysaid oppositely directed movement being such as to effectively cancel or neutralize any dynamic imbalance which might otherwise exist and doing so without requiring any auxiliary counterbalances.

FIG. 46 is a view illustrating a further modified form of the invention wherein the piston means is effectively flanged and cooperates with a simplified one-sided form of housing means for the purpose of providing an extremely simple structure not requiring a completely enclosing housing means.

The rotary chamber pressure fluid device or engine 10 which has been selected for illustration in FIGS. 1 through 8 of these drawings comprises a housing (broadly speaking, housing means) 12 defining an internal chamber 14 and having a central axis I6. Housing 12 is mounted on a support 18 (broadly speaking, one of a pair of eccentrically related supporting means) for rotation on its axis 16. Within the rotor chamber (broadly speaking, piston chamber) 14 is a rotor (broadly speaking, piston means) 20 including a body 22 having a central axis 24 disposed in spaced parallel relation to the housing axis I6. Rotor 20 is supported, by means 25, (broadly speaking, a portion of the other one of said pair of eccentrically related supporting means) for rotation on its axis 24. Slidably fitted in axially extending, radially opening slots in the rotor body 12 are a number of vanes 26. Within the rotor body are means 28 for yieldably urging these vanes outward (in the example illustrated, radially outward, although not specifically so limited) into fluid sealing relation with the wall of the rotor chamber M. The adjacent rotor vanes 26 define therebetween chamber spaces 30. In a particular rotary chamber fluid pressure device or engine under consideration, the rotor vanes 26, and hence the chamber spaces 30, are three in number. The rotor vanes are uniformly circumferentially spacedl 20 apart. Accordingly, the chamber spaces 30 are each 120 in circumferential extent. Operatively associated with the housing 12 and rotor 20 are one exemplary, but nonspecifically limiting fonn of means 32 for effecting rotation of the housing and rotor approximately in unison on their respective axes I6, 24, in such manner as to avoid any substantial relative angular movement between the housing and rotor.

Drivably coupled to the rotor 20 are one exemplary, but nonspecifically limiting, power transmission means 341 for transmitting rotary driving power between the engine and an external mechanism (not shown). In the engine under consideration, the engine drives the external mechanism through the transmission means 34. However, either the rotor 20 or the rotary housing 12 may either comprise or effectively drive virtually any type of mechanical output means. In the case of a rotary pump according to the invention, the pump rotor or housing would be driven from an external prime mover through the power transmission means 34 or any other suitable mechanical power input coupling means.

Within the engine are intake and exhaust passages 36, 38, respectively, for conveying a working fluid to and from the chamber spaces 30. In the illustrated engine, this working fluid is a combustible air fuel mixture. Valve means 30 are provided for communicating the intake passage 36 and the exhaust passage 38 to the chamber spaces 30 in timed relation to rotation of the housing I2 and rotor 20. Spark plugs 42 are provided for igniting the combustible mixture in each chamber space in timed relation to rotation of the rotor and housing in such a way as to effect driving of the rotor by the pressure of the hot combustion gas on the unbalanced areas of the vanes which bound each of the chamber spaces 30.

The operating cycle of the engine is illustrated in FIGS. 6a through 6h. This operating cycle will be explained in detail presently. Suffice it to say at this point that during unified rotation of the housing 12 and rotor 20, the chamber spaces 30 undergo progressive and alternate expansion and contraction. Briefly tracing the operating cycle of the chamber space 30a in the latter figures, it will be observed that in FIG. 6b the chamber space 30a is undergoing expansion and is receiving a combustible air-fuel mixture (hereinafter referred to simply as fuel) from the intake passage 36. In FIGS. 60 and 6d, the chamber space 30a is undergoing contraction with resultant compression of the fuel in the chamber space. In FIGS. 62 and 6f, the chamber space 30a is again undergoing expansion and the fuel in the space is undergoing combustion for driving the rotor and housing in rotation. In FIGS. 6g and 6h, the chamber space 300 is again undergoing contraction and the spent combustion gas in the chamber is being expelled into the exhaust passage 38.

Referring now in greater detail to the rotary chamber engine illustrated in the drawings, the engine housing ll2 will be observed to be generally cylindrical in transverse cross section. This housing includes a cylindrical wall 46 closed at its ends by circular platelike end walls 50. Each housing end wall 50 has an outwardly directed coaxial hub 52 surrounded by a number of circumferentially elongated openings 54!. As shown best in FIG. 5, these openings are generally uniformly angularly spaced about the housing axis 16.

The housing support I8 includes upstanding mounting brackets 56 which straddle the housing 12 in its endwise direction. Mounting brackets 56 have innercoaxial journals 58 (another portion of said first-mentioned one of said pair of eccentrically related supporting means) which fit rotatably within the hubs 52 on the housing end wall 50. The mounting brackets 56 support the engine housing 12 for rotation on its axis 16.

The body 22 of rotor 20 is cylindrical in transverse cross section and has a diameter substantially less than the internal diameter of the cylindrical rotor chamber 14. Extending from the ends of the rotor body are integral coaxial shafts 60. These shafts extend rotatably through journal bores 62 in the housing mounting brackets 56 (another portion of said secondmentioned one of said pair of eccentrically related supporting means) and support the rotor for turning on its axis 24. The end faces of the rotor body 22 have seals 63 which engage the inner faces of the housing end walls 50. As shown best in FIG. 3, the rotor body 22 is a unitary structure having an outer relatively thin walled rim portion 64, a central hub portion 66, and a number of alternatively arranged and uniformly spaced spokes 68, 70 extending between the hub and rim. The spokes 68 are relatively narrow in the axial direction of the rotor body and are centered endwise between the ends of the body, as shown in FIG. 1. The width of the intervening spokes 70 is equal to the axial length of the rotor body 22. The spokes 68 and 70 are each three in number spaced 120 apart. The adjacent spokes 68, 70 are alternately arranged and thus spaced 60 apart.

The rotor vanes 26 are slidably fitted in corresponding radial slots 72 cut into the rotor body spokes 74). As shown best in FIG. I, the vane slots 72 open through opposite ends of the rotor body 22. Each rotor vane 26 comprises a pair of plates 74 disposed in face-to-face contact and having confronting grooves defining vent passages 76. The outer ends of the vent passages in the vanes open to grooves 78 which extend along the outer edges of the vanes. The inner edges of the vent passages open through the inner edges of the vanes. Extending through the bottoms of the vane slots 72 are passages 80 in the rotor body 22 which communicate, in the manner hereinafter explained, to the engine exhaust 38. The outer vane grooves 78, therefore, communicate to the engine exhaust 38 through the vane passages 76 and the rotor body passages 80. As will appear presently, any working fluid, i.e., combustion gas, which tends to leak between adjacent chamber spaces 30 of the engine 10, past the outer edge of the intervening rotor vane 26, is bled to the engine exhaust 38 through the communicating passages just referred to. This aids in preventing preignition during operation of the engine.

The ends or end edges of the rotor vanes 26 are slotted to receive spring loaded metal seals 82. Seals 82 bear against the inner faces of the adjacent housing end walls 50. These seals, and the rotor body seals 63 referred to earlier, compensate for wear and prevent leakage of working fluid or combustion gas between adjacent chamber spaces 30 at the ends of the rotor body 22.

Within each rotor spoke 70, adjacent the ends of the corresponding rotor vane 26, are a pair of piston chambers or cylinders 84 which open outwardly through the bottom of the adjacent vane slot 72. The inner ends of these cylinders are closed. Slidable within the cylinders 84 are plungers 86 which seat against the inner edges of the adjacent rotor vanes 26. Springs 88 acting between the bottom walls of the cylinders 84 and the plungers 86 urge the latter outwardly against the rotor vanes 26 and, thereby, these vanes outwardly into fluid sealing relation with the wall of the rotor chamber 14. The inner end of each vane cylinder 84 communicates, through a passage 90 in the rotor body 22, to an adjacent chamber space 30. As will be explained presently, during operation of the engine 110, the high pressure combustion gas generated in each chamber space during combustion therein enters the adjacent vane cylinders 84 through the passages 90 and produces an outward force or thrust on the corresponding vane plungers 36 in addition to that exerted by the plunger springs 88 and centrifugal force. Accordingly, during operation of the gas engine 10, the rotor vanes 26 are subjected to outward spring, centrifugal, and combustion gas forces which urge the vanes outwardly against the wall of the rotor chamber 14.

It should be clearly noted that the type of vane-actuating or vane-biasing means illustrated in the first form of the invention and particularly described in the preceding paragraph is not to be construed as specifically limiting the invention to said specific exemplary version. In fact, the vane-actuating or vane-biasing means may assume a great number of different forms, all within the broad scope of the present invention. In this connection, and for exemplary purposes only, it should be noted that the plungers 86 referred to in the preceding paragraph may be eliminated entirely and fluid pressure acting through either the above-mentioned passages 90 in the rotor body 22 or otherwise supply to the inner ends of the vanes 26 may be directly employed for biasing the vanes 26 outwardly against the wall of the rotor chamber 14. Also, it should be noted that the source of fluid pressure for such a fluid-pressure type of vane-actuating or vane-biasing means may comprise the pressure in the rotor chamber 14 or in any of the particular chamber spaces 30 thereof which contain the working fluid under high pressure, or any other source of fluid under pressure may be employed for such outward actuation of the vanes 26. Indeed, even a separate or auxiliary high-pressure fluid pump may be employed for this purpose, if desired. Additionally, it should be noted that the vane-actuating or vanebiasing means need not combine fluid pressure and pressure of the plunger springs 88 together with the centrifugal force as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Instead, in certain forms of the invention any of said vane-actuating or vane-biasing forcesthat is, fluid pressure vane-actuating force, spring pressure vane-actuating force, or centrifugal vane-actuating force may be employed independently of each other for the purpose of outwardly biasing or actuating the vanes 26. Also, magnetic attraction and/or magnetic repulsion may be employed for vane-actuating purposes and will be referred to herein as magnetically caused vane-actuating force provided by magnetic vane-actuating means. Thus, it is possible for the springs 88 to be eliminated entirely and for the vanes 26 to be actuated outwardly substantially entirely by fluid pressure actuation. Conversely, it is possible for the fluid pressure actuation arrangement to be modified or eliminated entirely insofar as the vanes 26 are concerned, and to employ springs such as shown at 88 or any substantial equivalent for biasing or actuating the vanes outwardly. Also, it is possible to use neither fluid pressure actuation or plunger springs such as shown at 88 for outwardly actuating or biasing the vanes 26, but to rely substantially entirely on centrifugal force, which will tend to throw the vanes 26 outwardly when the rotor 20 and the housing 12 rotate in unison. Also, alternatively, magnetically caused vane-actuating force, alone, may be used. Also, it is possible to use any combination of these four different types of vane-actuating or vane-biasing means together or in combination, and all such arrangements are intended to be included and comprehended within the broad scope of the present invention.

Additionally, it should be noted that the invention is not limited to an arrangement of the type shown in the first form of the invention and best illustrated in FIG. 3 wherein each of the vanes 26 is radially carried by the rotor body 22 for slidable radial movement outwardly under the action of any of the above-mentioned types of vane-actuating or vane-biasing means into sealing relationship with the inner surface of that cylindrical portion of the housing wall 46 defining the rotor chamber 14. Actually, the vane means 26 may be nonradially positioned and/or may be carried by the wall 46 of the housing 12 rather than being carried by the rotor body 22. All that is necessary is that each such vane 26 effectively sealingly cooperates with both the rotor body 22 and the corresponding outwardly adjacent portion of the wall 46 of the housing 12 defining the rotor chamber 14, or with auxiliary sealing structure members carried thereby.

Furthermore, it is even possible in certain forms of the invention for the vanes to be of a flexible nature capable of allowing the relative chamber-space-modifying movement of the rotor 20 and the housing means 12 during rotative operation of the device to occur without the necessity of any actual sliding movement of each such vane occurring relative to either the rotor or the housing, and one such exemplary arrangement will be briefly described hereinafter in connection with FIG. 41. All such arrangements are intended to be included and comprehended within the broad scope of the present invention.

The above-described means for venting the outer edges of the rotor vanes 26 and for urging the vanes outwardly against the wall of the rotor chamber 14 cooperate to maintain the vanes in highly efficient fluid sealing relation with the chamber wall and, thereby, to prevent leakage of working fluid or combustion gas between adjacent chamber spaces 30. Preignition in the chamber spaces during operation of the en gine is thus avoided.

It will be recalled that the rotary chamber engine 10 includes transmission means 32 which drivably couple the engine housing 12 and rotor 20 for turning thereof in unison and power transfer means 34 through which driving torque is transmitted from the engine to an external mechanism (not shown) to be driven. As shown best in FIGS. 2 and 4, the power transfer means 34 comprises a power output shaft 97 which is rotatably supported in one of the housing mounting brackets 56 for turning on an axis parallel to but offset slightly below the rotor axis 24. Rigid on the output shaft are a pair of gears 92 and 94. Gear 92 meshes with a gear 96 rigid on the outer end of the adjacent rotor shaft 60. Output shaft gear 94 meshes with a gear 98 coaxially fixed to the adjacent end of the housing 12. It is now evident, therefore, that turning of the engine rotor 20 is effective to drive both the engine housing 12 and the output shaft 97 in rotation. The output shaft gears 92, 94 have approximately the same diameter and the same number of teeth, as do the rotor and housing gears 96, 98. Accordingly, the housing 12 and rotor 20 turn in the same direction and at the same or approximately the same angular velocity.

The exemplary, but nonspeciflcally limiting valve means 40 for communicating the engine chamber spaces 30 to the engine intake 36 and exhaust 38 comprise a rotary valve sleeve, tube, or pipe 100. This valve sleeve extends through the body 22 of the engine rotor 20 on the rotor axis 24 and is rotatable relative to the rotor body 22. Suitable rotary seals (not shown) may be provided for sealing the valve sleeve with respect to the rotor body 22. The ends of the valve sleeve 100 are open and extend coaxially through and beyond the rotor shafts 60. Fixed on the end of the valve sleeve 100 adjacent the output shaft 97 is a gear 102 which meshes with a gear 104 rigid on the output shaft 97. Accordingly, during operation of the engine 10, the valve sleeve 100 is driven in rotation in the same direction as the housing 12 and rotor 20. However, the valve sleeve gear 102 is smaller than the rotor and housing gears 96, 98 and the output shaft gear 104 is larger than the output shaft gears 92, 94. As a consequence, the angular speed of the valve sleeve exceeds the angular speed of the engine housing 12 and rotor 20. In a typical engine according to the invention, for example, the valve sleeve turns at one end one-half times the speed of the rotor and housing (in certain forms, multiplied by one half or other fraction having two as a denominator and an odd number as a numerator). Thus, during operation of the engine 10, the rotor 20 and valve sleeve 100 undergo relative rotation. This of course occurs during four-cycle operation. For two-cycle operation, the valve sleeve 100 need not turn at all, or at a rate which is an even multiple of the unified rate of rotation of the rotor and housing.

Extending across the interior of the valve sleeve 100 at its center is a wall 106, the central portion of which is disposed in a plane containing the axis of the valve sleeve. The central valve sleeve passage at the right-hand side of this wall in FIG. 1 forms an intake passage 108 which communicates to the engine intake 36. The central valve sleeve passage at the left- 

1. A radial chamber, positive displacement, fluid power device comprising: housing means defining an internal piston chamber having a central transversely directed housing axis; piston means positioned within said chamber and having a central transversely directed piston axis; said chamber having a larger crosssectional area than said piston means in a plane perpendicular to said transversely directed housing and piston axes; a pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means having two eccentrically related axes, coaxial, respectively with said housing axis and said piston axis and having a substantially parallel axis of operation positioned in a plane terminating at one end and being coincident with said housing axis and terminating at the other end and being coincident with said piston axis and relatively rotatively supporting said housing means around said housing axis and relatively rotatively supporting said piston means around said piston axis, with said housing and piston axes being disposed in spaced parallel relationship to each other; the relatively eccentric positioning of said piston means and the one of said pair of supporting means relatively rotatably supporting said piston means, and the relative cross-sectional Shape of said piston means with respect to the larger cross-sectional shape of said chamber being so related as to provide and define radially varying chamber spaces at different relatively angularly spaced locations between said piston means and said housing mean defining said chamber, each such chamber space radially varying in extent as a function of relative rotative angular location of one relatively rotated axis of said housing and piston axes around said axis of operation, with said chamber space lying between the corresponding radially spaced portions of said piston means and said housing means; at least one movable vane sealingly cooperating with said piston means and a corresponding outwardly spaced inner wall of said housing means defining said chamber and circularly angularly dividing that portion of the chamber between the piston means and the inner wall of the housing means defining said chamber into at least two angularly adjacent chamber spaces; means for effecting substantially simultaneous relative rotation in a first direction of said housing means and said piston means with respect to said supporting means and centered on said axis of operation thereof while simultaneously effecting relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means with respect to said supporting means centered on said housing axis and for simultaneously effecting relative rotation in said first direction of said piston means with respect to said supporting means and centered on said piston axis while also effecting relative rotation of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means with respect to said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means in a second direction opposite to said first direction in a manner such as to effect cyclic contraction and expansion of said chamber spaces without any substantial relative angular movement between said piston means and said housing means; and means for admitting a working fluid into and venting the working fluid from said chamber spaces, respectively, in timed relation to chamberspace-modifying relative movement of said piston means and said housing means in response to said substantially simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation in said second opposite direction of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and relative to said housing means and said piston means.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1, including two or more of said movable vanes, each sealingly cooperating with a different angularly displaced portion of said piston means and a corresponding different angularly displaced portion of the inner wall of said housing means whereby said angular displaced vanes define therebetween two or more of said angularly adjacent chamber spaces.
 3. A device as defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of said housing means and said piston means is effectively provided with intake and exhaust passages for the working fluid; said means of admitting a working fluid into and venting the working fluid from said chamber spaces comprises valve means for admitting the working fluid into and exhausting said working fluid from said chamber spaces through said passages, respectively, in timed relationship to the substantially simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation in said second opposite direction of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and relative to said housing means and said pistons means.
 4. A device as defined in claim 3, wherein said means for effecting substantially simultaneous relative rOtation of said housing means and said piston means comprises rotary synchronizing effective power transmission and coupling means effectively coupled therebetween for substantially preventing relative angular displacement between said housing means and said piston means while freely allowing only said substantially simultaneous relative rotating in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means with respect to said supporting means centered on said axis of operation thereof and said simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means with respect to said supporting means centered on said housing axis and said simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said piston means with respect to said supporting means centered on said piston axis and said simultaneous relative rotation of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means with respect to said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation in said second direction opposite to said first direction in said manner such as to effect cyclic contraction and expansion of said chamber spaces.
 5. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said piston means and said chamber are noncircular in transverse cross section and have confronting surfaces defining the inner and outer walls of said chamber spaces, respectively.
 6. A device as defined in claim 5, wherein similar portions of said respective confronting surfaces are disposed in virtual contact over their entire areas when the intervening chamber space is in its minimum volume condition, thereby providing said device with a maximum compression ratio.
 7. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said piston means has a generally cylindrical outer surface, the inner wall of said chamber also being of generally cylindrical shape and having a generally cylindrical inner surface defining the outer walls of said chamber spaces respectively and having an effective average internal radius of curvature greater than but closely approximating the external radius of curvature of said piston means.
 8. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said piston means has a generally cylindrical outer surface, the inner wall of said chamber having a number of axially extending generally uniformly spaced arcuate scallops defining the outer walls of said chamber spaces, respectively, and having substantially equal radii of curvature closely approximating the external radius of curvature of said piston means.
 9. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said piston means and said chamber are generally polygonal in transverse cross section and have generally parallel confronting wall surfaces extending between said vanes, respectively, and defining the inner and outer sides of said chamber spaces, respectively.
 10. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said device comprises an engine to be operated by said working fluid; and including power transmission means effectively coupled with respect to the actually rotating one of said relatively rotating coupled piston means and housing means and said pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means relatively rotatively supporting same and adapted to be coupled to an external mechanism.
 11. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said device comprises an internal combustion engine; said working fluid comprising a combustible mixture which is compressed in said chamber spaces during contraction of said spaces; and ignition means on said engine for igniting the compressed combustible mixture in each chamber space in timed relation to said substantially simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation in said second opposite direction of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and relative to said housing means and said piston means.
 12. An engine as defined in claim 11, wherein said ignition means comprise spark plugs carried by said housing means adjacent to and in effective communication with corresponding ones of said chamber spaces.
 13. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said device comprises an internal combustion engine; said working fluid comprising a combustible mixture which is compressed in said chamber spaces during contraction of said spaces; and spark plugs carried by said piston means for igniting the compressed combustible mixture in each chamber space in timed relation to said substantially simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation in said second opposite direction of at least of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and relative to said housing means and said piston means.
 14. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said device comprises a four-cycle internal combustion engine; said working fluid comprising a combustible mixture; said valve means comprising intake and exhaust valve means for providing each of said chamber spaces with an operating cycle including an intake phase during which the respective chamber space undergoes expansion while in communication with said intake passage to induce flow of said combustible mixture into the respective chamber space, a compression phase during which the respective chamber space undergoes contraction while isolated from said intake and exhaust passages to effect compression of the combustible mixture in the respective chamber space, a power phase during which the respective chamber space undergoes expansion while isolated form said intake and exhaust passages and the compressed combustible mixture within the respective chamber space is burned to produce a driving torque on one of the two relatively rotatable structures of the engine comprising the simultaneously relatively rotatable housing means and piston means and the pair of relatively eccentrically related supporting means relatively rotatively supporting said housing means and said piston means, and an exhaust phase during which the effective chamber space undergoes contraction while in communication with said exhaust passage to effective expulsion of spent combustion gas from the respective chamber space; and ignition means on said engine for igniting the compressed combustible mixture in each of said chamber spaces in timed relation to said substantially simultaneous relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around one of said axes of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation of the other of said axes of said supporting means around said first-mentioned axis of said supporting means in the opposite direction in a manner such as to effect burning of said combustible mixture in said chamber spaces during the power phase of their respective operating cycles.
 15. An engine as defined in claim 14, wherein said synchronizing means for effectively rotatably coupling said piston means and said housing means comprises rotary power transmission means effectively coupling said piston means and said housing means.
 16. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said device comprises an internal combustion engine; said working fluid comprising a combustible mixture which is compressed in said chamber spaces during contraction of said spaces; and including ignition means on said engine for igniting the compressed combustible mixture in each chamber space in timed relation to said substantially simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation in said second opposite direction of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means around said aXis of operation of said supporting means and relative to said housing means and said piston means; said housing means and said piston means having communicating passages extending therethrough through with a coolant may be circulated to cool said engine.
 17. An engine as defined in claim 16, including a casing enclosing said housing means, said casing having an inlet adjacent to one end of said housing means through which air may enter said casing; means communicating the interior of said casing adjacent to the end of said housing means to said engine intake passage; and cooling fins on said piston means and said housing means for aiding heat transfer from said engine and said air and for inducing air flow through said engine.
 18. A device as defined in claim 4, including vane-actuating means operative to normally maintain said vanes in said cooperative sealing relationship with respect to said piston and a corresponding wall portion of said housing means defining said chamber when said substantially simultaneous relative rotation of said housing means and said piston means around one of said axes of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation of the other of said axes of said supporting means around said first-mentioned axis of said supporting means in the opposite direction occurs.
 19. A device as defined in claim 18, wherein said vane-actuating means comprises fluid pressure actuated means operatively associated with said vanes for urging said vanes into fluid sealing relation with respect to both the inner wall of the housing means defining said chamber and the piston means; and including passage means communicating said fluid pressure actuated means to a source of fluid under pressure to permit flow of pressurized fluid to said fluid pressure actuated means.
 20. A device as defined in claim 18, wherein said vane-actuating means comprises fluid pressure actuated means operatively associated with said vanes for urging said vanes into fluid sealing relation with respect to both the inner wall of the housing means defining said chamber and the piston means; and including passage means communicating said fluid pressure actuated means to said chamber spaces, respectively, to permit flow of pressurized fluid from said chamber spaces to said fluid pressure actuated means.
 21. A device as defined in claim 18, wherein said vane-actuating means comprises mounting means outwardly movably mounting said vanes with respect to said piston means in a manner responsive to centrifugal force caused by relative rotation thereof with respect to said supporting means rotatively supporting said piston means for causing the outward urging of said vanes into fluid-sealing relation with respect to the adjacent wall of said housing means defining said chamber.
 22. A device as defined in claim 18, wherein said vane-actuating means comprises biasing means normally biasing said vanes into extended relationship effectively sealingly engaged between corresponding portions of said piston means and the wall of said housing means defining said chamber.
 23. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said vanes are effectively interconnected between corresponding portions of said piston means and said housing means in a lost-motion manner permitting the relative circular point-for-point relative circular displacement of corresponding parts of said piston means and said housing means during said substantially simultaneous relative rotation in said first direction of said housing means and said piston means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and said simultaneous relative rotation in said second opposite direction of at least one of said housing and piston axes of said supporting means around said axis of operation of said supporting means and relative to said housing means and said piston means.
 24. A device as defined in claim 20, wherein said fluid pressure actuated means for each of said vanes comprises cylinder means in said piston means opening to tHe lower edge of the respective vane, plunger means movable in said cylinder means and engaging the inner edge of the respective vane, said passage means communicating the several cylinder means in said piston means to the adjacent chamber spaces.
 25. A device as defined in claim 20, wherein said fluid pressure actuated means for each of said vanes comprises a pair of cylinders adjacent to the ends and opening toward the inner edge of the respective vane, and plungers movable in said cylinders and engaging the inner edge of the respective vane, said passage means communicating the several cylinder means in said piston means to the adjacent chamber spaces.
 26. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein each vane is outwardly extendably carried by said piston means toward a corresponding inner wall portion of the housing mans defining said chamber for sealing engagement therewith and has an effective groove in its outer chamber wall engaging edge, each such outer vane groove being provided with passage means communicating said vane groove to a reduced-pressure region.
 27. In a radial chamber fluid power device, the provision of: a hollow housing means defining an interior chamber; and a piston means mounted within the housing means and having at least certain portions spaced from the housing means wall and provided with outwardly directed vanes sealingly carried by the piston and sealingly engaging corresponding portions of the housing means wall, each vane having an effective groove in its outer housing means wall engaging edge, each such outer vane groove being provided with passage means communicating said vane groove to a reduced-pressure region.
 28. In a radial chamber fluid power device, the provision of: a hollow housing means defining an interior chamber; and a piston means mounted within the housing means and having at least certain portion spaced from the housing means wall and provided with outwardly directed vanes sealingly carried by the piston and sealingly engaging corresponding portions of the housing means wall; and means for venting the region between the outer edge of each such vane and the corresponding portion of the housing means wall defining said chamber to a low-pressure region.
 29. A device as defined in claim 18, wherein said vane-actuating means comprises fluid pressure actuated means operatively associated with said vanes for urging said vanes into fluid sealing relation with respect to both the inner wall of the housing means defining said chamber and the piston means; and including means for venting the region between the outer edge of each such vane and the corresponding portion of the housing means wall defining said chamber to a low-pressure region. 